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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME IV.' [59r] (122/540)
The record is made up of 1 volume (266 folios). It was created in 1927. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
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89
NEW BRITISH OFFENSIVE
As rcg^ds the extension of the Turkish railway towards
Mosul, a British prisoner of war, taken at Kut and employed
by the enemy on work on this extension, had recently reached
Baghdad after escaping from the Turks and was able to furnish
information which showed that railhead was still well to the
west of Nisibin.
Local resources had already been considerably developed
by General Maude, but he had hitherto not considered that the
military situation justified his acceding to Sir Percy Cox’s
requests that we should bring the fertile Middle Euphrates
area between Nasiriya and Falluja under our control. We
had, so far, penetrated southwards from Falluja to Hilla,
Musaiyib and the Hindiya barrage and we had political officers!
in Karbala and Najaf. But in view of Sir William Robertson’s
pressing instructions and of the improved military situation,
General Marshall decided at the beginning of December to
bring this area under his control; and a number of detach
ments, released for this important duty by a reorganisation of
the line of communication forces, were sent to garrison various
posts there.
Soon after succeeding to the command, General Marshall
decided to attack the Turkish force which held Qara Tepe and
a line, in advance of that place, extending along the Jabal
Hamrin from west of Suhaniya to Abu Zenabil and from there
for about forty miles up the Diyala right bank to Qala
Shirwan * The strength and distribution of the Turkish 6 th
Division, which had been identified as holding this area, was
estimated as follows :—Headquarters and 400 rifles at Qara
Tepe ; 50 sabres, 1,800 rifles and 12 guns in the triangle Narin
Kdpri—Suhaniya—Abu Zenabil; 900 rifles and 12 guns from
Abu Zenabil to Shaikh Baba ; and 300 rifles and 2 guns from
Shaikh Baba to Qala Shirwan. The advanced line of the
British Illrd Corps extended roughly westward from east
of the main crossing over the Kurdarra river to three miles
north of Mansuriya and then to the Khalis canal westward of
Delli Abbas; the 14th Division being east, and the 13th
Division west, of the Diyala.
General Marshall hoped to surprise and destroy the advanced
portion of this Turkish force by a converging attack towards
Qara Tepe from the line Qizil Ribat-Suhaniya, combined with
a movement up the Adhaim by the Cavalry Division directed
to cut, at or near Qara Tepe, the enemy’s communications
* See Map 35.
About this item
- Content
The volume is the fourth volume of an official government publication compiled at the request of the Government of India, and under the direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence, by Brigadier-General Frederick James Moberly. The volume was printed and published at His Majesty's Stationery Office, London.
The contents provide a narrative of the operations of 1914-1918 in Mesopotamia, based mainly on official documents.
The volume is in one part, entitled, 'Part V. The Campaign in Upper Mesopotamia, 1917-1918 - North-West Persia and the Caspian, 1918', and consists of the following ten chapters:
- May, June and July 1917
- August and September 1917: The Capture of Ramadi
- October to December 1917 - Occupation of the Jabal Hamrin, Action of Tikrit and Death of General Maude
- January to March 1918: Dunsterville's Mission and the Action of Khan Baghdadi
- April and May 1918: Operations in Kurdistan and Arrangements to Counter the Turco-German Threat beyond our Northern Flank
- British Plans to Stop the Enemy's Advance into Persia and to Obtain Control of the Caspian
- The Fall of Baku
- British Advance up the Tigris: Actions of Fat-Ha Gorge and on the Little Zab
- The Battle of Sharqat and the Armistice
- Conclusion
The volume also includes fourteen maps, entitled:
- The Middle East
- Mesopotamia
- Map 34 - Operations near Ramadi: July and September 1917
- Map 35 - Operations in the Jabal Hamrin: October and December 1917
- Map 36 - Actions at Daur and Tikrit: 2nd and 5th November 1917
- Map 37 - Operations on the Euphrates line: March 1918
- Map 38 - Action of Khan Baghdadi: 26th March 1918
- Map 39 - Operations in the Kifri-Kirkuk area: April and May 1918
- Map 40 - The Cavalry affair of the 27th April 1918, and the action of Tuz Khurmatli, 29th April 1918
- Map 41 - Operations of "Dunsterforce", 1918
- Map 42 - Operations at Baku, August-September 1918
- Map 43 - Operations on the Tigris: 18th-30th October 1918
- Map 44 - Action by 7th Cavalry Brigade near Hadraniya: 29th October 1918
- Map 45 - Battle of Sharqat, 29th October 1918
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (266 folios)
- Arrangement
The volume contains a preface (folios 5-6), a chronological summary of the campaign in Mesopotamia (folios 7-8), a list of contents (folios 8-11), a list of maps and illustrations (folios 11-12), appendices (folios 197-232), an index (folios 233-254), and twelve maps in a pocket attached to the inside back cover (folios 256-267).
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 268; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME IV.' [59r] (122/540), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/4, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100049244984.0x00007b> [accessed 1 April 2025]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/MIL/17/15/66/4
- Title
- 'HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR BASED ON OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS. THE CAMPAIGN IN MESOPOTAMIA 1914-1918. VOLUME IV.'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:2v, 4r:186v, 188r:255v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence